To consider not taking my lame pet to the vets?

This is a 2 week old chick. We have 3 of them and this is the youngest. I paid around £3 each for them and they are being cared for by one of my hens.

Yesterday I noticed this little fella was limping but was still getting around. I checked its foot, couldn't find anything stuck in it so let it go back assuming it would get better by itself.

Today it cannot put any weight on the foot. I have taken it indoors and examined it and it's not any of the usual foot diseases I've so far googled. I can't feel any broken bones so could just be a sprain, but obviously I don't know for sure.

The chick is a Pekin bantam so its tiny still and difficult to treat I would imagine. I've not put it back with it's mum or the others but have brought it in as it was not coming out of the hutch for food or water, at least this way I can make sure its eating.

I've just phoned the vets and they charge £10 consultation fee plus whatever else for treatment/medication.

Now when all is said and done, it is just a chick and doesn't appear to be in constant pain, it just can't walk around as it refuses to put the bad leg down. I am tempted to just pop it back under mother hen tonight, then take it out again tomorrow and do what I'm doing today, which is to keep it in an egg box with food and water and hope that the leg gets better with plenty of rest so it can eventually join the other two and mother hen.

Farmstay - apologies but your response came after others which implied that I needed dh to do it for me and of course the presumption that neither of us knew how to dispatch of a hen just riled me. Everyone has a different way of despatching animals but that's mine.

Leo - yeah whatever.

The good news update is that we went away on holiday for a week leaving MIL in charge (an experienced farmer and hen keeper). The chick has made a full recovery and is now out with its siblings and mother. It is able to fully use its leg so I am assuming that the bone must have healed itself. It is still half the size of the other two chicks but it is putting on weight so all looks good

No vets bills, no humane culling. I think I made the right decision and I have to thank the many posters who helped me make that decision with their common sense advice.

Rhubarb.. Re your response to my last post.. I was just trying to help!! I didn't make any assumptions regarding your level of knowledge on chicken care which is why I suggested what I did. Hope your chick continues to get better to save it being bashed over the head with a brick.. :/ not sure how this solves the brain dead issue over any other way of culling either but whatever!

'...just a chick'? Nice! When you take any animal on you have to be prepared for vets' bills... It could be in pain and by leaving it the poor thing might get worse, not better. Pain is pain whether you're a chick, a dog, a bear, a human etc

MrsDeVere I have no idea which is why I'm waiting to see. Her leg is getting stronger and she is able to move about. Every day I put her in with her mum and brothers for a little while, if it's warm enough, just so that she can be with other chickens and I think that has helped. For the most part she's in here though as she's just not big enough to survive being outdoors yet.

I am keeping a close eye on her progress and if it looks as though this leg is going to inhibit her and stop her from leading a full chickeny life then I'll put her down. After all, my hens are free to roam and that was important to us when we got them, that they had a good life with plenty of space, lots of bugs to eat and dirt to bathe in. If something goes wrong then or you have to kill a cockerel you don't mind so much as you know they've had a great life.

I won't keep her alive just out of misplaced sentimentality I promise.

rhubarb - while you have the time, patience and tools to help the chick and still think, on balance, that it's still the best thing to do then good on you.

As a kid and an adult i have had many many pets, small and large, been to the vets a million times with my own animals and wild ones, and i would bet money that a vet worth his salt would just say put the chick down. NOT because it's not worth the effort of trying - but because as a business transaction it would be so expensive and - crucially - that with an animal this tiny no guarantee of success after all of it.

That doesn't mean you can't have an informed go at helping the animal yourself - with one eye always on watching for the time to give up and PITS.

It's Monday and she's still here. She is now able to walk a little and stand upright but the leg from the knee joint downwards is useless, so she can only really use it as a prop, propelling herself forwards with her wings.

She is still not growing as well as she should but whilst she is still eating and making some progress she gets a reprieve. The weather is turning now and without adequate feather protection she'll die anyway so she's an indoor chick for the time being.

I've had many people now tell me that they would have euthanised her and some still think I should, but I think that whilst an animal refuses to give up, neither should we.

Aw poor mite! Don't worry, you did what you thought was best at the time. I've made similar mistakes myself. I've also seen birds with broken necks that have fluttered for ages - and I mean AGES afterwards. It's only seeing that which has me convinced that you need to kill the brain in order to ensure a quick death.

It is very hard to make the right decison and you can torture yourself for ages afterwards thinking "what if". But you gave it a good life and did the best you could for it